The Confidence Game, by Maria Konnikova. Pub 2016 I've read several long-form articles by this author, and wanted to read this one to try to understand a) my own gullibility, and b) the psychology of some I've encountered at work - people who fake or mask something about themselves to get a job, and then... Continue Reading →
Pop and Food
27 April – Pop’s birthday and #tellastory day. Time to tell another (just like the other one…). Food, glorious food. Like many people, I have lots of memories and associations with family members and food. When I started to think about Pop and food, I came up with many little stories and memories. One of... Continue Reading →
The Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles. Book report #6 (2021)
Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles. Pub 2011 Another post-Christmas top-up-of-the-tsundoku, I've been looking forward to this one ever since I finished A Gentleman in Moscow last year. And this one did not disappoint - I finished it in just 2 days. Set primarily in 1938 in New York, the novel has one Katie Kontent tell... Continue Reading →
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng. Book report #5 (2021)
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng. Pub 2014 This was another from the post-Christmas top-up. I had read something about this book being better than the author's much hyped Little Fires Everywhere, and it was on sale during my shopping spree, et voila, it ended up in my pile. It was a quick read. The... Continue Reading →
Hamnet and Judith, by Maggie O’Farrell. Book report #4 (2021)
Hamnet & Judith, by Maggie O'Farrell. Pub 2020 (The book is published as "Hamnet" in the UK - don't know why...) I can't remember where or when I first heard about this book, but it made it on to my book wish list and became one of my Christmas additions to my tsundoku. I've been making my... Continue Reading →
The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes. Book report #3 (2021)
The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes. Pub 2018 After that last book I read, I was hoping for a compelling page-turner, and was not disappointed with this book. A retelling of the Oedipus myth (spoiler alert: reading that information will be a spoiler for this book) from the perspectives of two minor characters from... Continue Reading →
Very Nice, by Marcy Dermansky. Book report #2 (2021)
Very Nice, by Marcy Dermansky. Pub 2019 I have read Dermansky's previous books (Bad Marie and Red Car) which were wonderful. The lead characters were flawed and made bad decisions, but were still people you cared about and rooted for. I had such high hopes for this book, but was disappointed. Sadly, there was no... Continue Reading →
Reynard the Fox, by Anne Louise Avery. Book report #1 (2021)
Reynard the Fox, by Anne Louise Avery. Pub 2020 I have been following @AnneLouiseAvery on Twitter for a little over a year. In her tweets (and now also on Patreon) she tells delightful little stories about animals living in and around a small village in Southern England. Centred around Old Fox and his wise and... Continue Reading →
2021 Reading Challenge
Another year, another list. 2021's reading list takes us to 34 items, with some more new categories to keep things interesting. The list is below. This year we combined play and poetry into a single category, and added a book from high school or university, a book about politics or history, and a book with... Continue Reading →
Good riddance, 2020
Like most people I'm sure, I'll be glad to flip the calendar from 2020. I started this blog in 2010, at the end of (for me) a tumultuous year. 2020 has been less personally challenging but still no picnic. I tried for a few years doing a year-end sum-up of things that made me laugh/cry/get... Continue Reading →
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